San Bernardino police officer killed in off-duty motorcycle crash

The California state flag draped body of Shaun Jarvis, a San Bernardino police office, is removed from the 91 freeway in Corona following a deadly crash Thursday morning. Jarvis was apparently struck by a passing vehicle and thrown from his motorcycle.
Photo courtesy of KTLA

Shaun Jarvis was on his way Thursday morning to have his city-issued police helmet repaired. It was his day off and he was riding his Harley-Davidson west on the 91 Freeway.

Hours later, his brothers and sisters at the San Bernardino Police Department were mourning the loss of a man — the father, the officer — just 30 years old, who in March posted on his Facebook page that he’d passed motorcycle training school.

Jarvis of Beaumont died after a car veered from the fast lane shortly before 9 a.m. and struck him in the carpool lane.

“He flew over the center divider barrier and struck a vehicle that was traveling eastbound in the lane,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Travis Monks.

Jarvis died at the scene near Grand Boulevard in Corona.

The carpool and fast lanes remained closed on both sides of the freeway hours after the crash while officers investigated the incident.

Monks said the driver merged into the carpool lane in an area where it is legal to do so, but it is unknown who was at fault in the crash.

There were no other injuries and the investigation is still in it’s beginning stages.

On Thursday, shockwaves rippled through the city, where the mayor spoke of the loss as he addressed a crowd gathered outside City Hall for the National Day of Prayer.

From the mayor to the police chief and Jarvis’ colleagues, the shock spread.

“Obviously, the folks in there are pretty devastated and upset,” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said of his department.

Jarvis began his law enforcement career with San Bernardino police and had been assigned to the motor unit about six months. He had worked in patrol, the mounted unit and a number of other assignments.

Burguan, who also worked in the traffic unit years ago, described the group as tight-knit.

He was a 2002 graduate of Etiwanda High School, according to his Facebook page.

After joining the Police Department in June 2006, he patrolled the city in a marked police car before joining the Mounted Patrol. There he again patrolled the city, but on horseback before becoming a motorcycle officer in the traffic division.

“He had a bright career ahead of him. It’s a tragic event,” Burguan said.

That tragedy had others from the department echoing their chief.

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“The members of the San Bernardino Police Department are deeply saddened by our loss and will miss him dearly,” San Bernardino Police Officers’ Association President Steve Turner wrote in a statement.

A memorial fund has been set up to help Jarvis’ family.

Donations can be sent to the San Bernardino Police Officers Foundation, c/o Shaun Jarvis, P.O. Box 2967, San Bernardino, Calif., 92406.

Jarvis is survived by his wife, a son, daughter and stepdaughter. Funeral arrangements are pending.